Search Results for: Latin Dance

Latin Saoko The Latin Corner Of The World

Latin America/ Buenos Aires / Argentina

Latin Saoko. The salsa and timba radio station in South America continues to make progress in its project of making anyone in all corners of the world dance.- Latin Saoko

Saoko Latino is the fastest growing Internet radio station in America, from its transmission headquarters in Buenos Aires in Argentina and to its master control in Tenerife Spain, its two creators continue betting on this great musical initiative that for more than 3 years they continue growing.

Latin Saoko The Latin Corner Of The World

This Latin-Caribbean genre station produces interactive programs with top-of-the-line speakers, music professionals who venture into designing proposals with ideal content for Latin music lovers. Among its main objectives is to create a space dedicated to the public that loves these Caribbean genres, strengthen Caribbean music and culture worldwide, extend the horizons of Latin radio in the world, among so many lines of development that seek to impact being the number 1 in the ranking of stations on the internet.

Their work reaches your hands through their web portal www.saokolatino.com or through their App available under the name Saoko Latino, from these channels they can delight you with their great musical content, available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. of the week, without interruptions so you don’t stop listening to it.

From this month of April they venture into a new program called Timba timbero by the hand of its great moderator Ronny Peinado, the famous @DjTimbao. The aforementioned program seeks in 2 hours to address issues of great importance in the timba world, the spectacular Cuban musical genres, from where they delight their listeners with premieres of the most recognized artists of the Cuban arena, the newest representatives of this musical line, development of opinion, informative and many more topics, all developed with the sole intention of making you enjoy what we like the most, Cuban music.

Daily from 3:00 p.m. Colombia time, 9:00 p.m. Spain and 5:00 p.m. Argentina you can tune in to this great program, be part of the participation through its live chat through its website or its App, in the same way you can locate them through Itunes for the followers of the Apple line, everyone can have access to the musical initiative of the moment on the web.

Now don’t hesitate to tune in and get carried away by its great musical content, it’s time to enjoy the best music.

By Jose Perez, ISM Correspondent, Caracas, Venezuela

Because even from home You can compete with Venezuela es Latina

Latin America / Venezuela / Caracas

Venezuela es Latina prepared a preview of its 2020 edition to be enjoyed online, relying on social networks, anyone who wishes can be part of the competition or the spectator public.

Since 2007, Venezuela is Latina was born as a competitive event that sought to innovate and open a new path to dance competitions in Venezuela, hence since its birth, the event managed to capture the eyes of many by presenting new ideas, from the divisions of the competitors in categories to the emergence of a show in conjunction with the best dancers and academies in the country.

From its first delivery in August 2007 and until the last in a row in 2017, this event usually achieves hundreds of people at great moments, a custom that is maintained for this new edition. It reaches its 12th day, after a stop of two years in its annual run, for this 2020 they have prepared a comeback show, supported by the slogan, a tradition returns and we want to see you dance, this great event seeks to renew the systems a little of competitions that are constantly taking place in beautiful Venezuela, from changes in some categories to innovations in others, we must be prepared for everything that this great event could show us.

For now, they have advanced a mouth opener with an On Line competition through the famous Instagram social network, highlighted by the hashtag #CompiteEnCasa, this idea seeks to open a competition channel for all beginner dancers who can post a video from their homes demonstrating their freestyle skills to win additional prize money from other surprise dance surprises, all supported by great sponsors.

To be part of this competition, those interested must search for all the information contained in their account on Instagram @vzlaeslatina, in addition to reviewing the price of the prize daily at @enviostenerife, the official sponsor, and join this initiative to stay home but take advantage of the time to compete. .

Be sure to follow in the footsteps of this great initiative and be part of the qualifying jury.

By Jose Perez, ISM Correspondent, Caracas, Venezuela

Influence of Latin Music in Europe and Vice Versa

European union

When we refer to any Latin element that has been influential at the European continent or vice versa, it is almost inevitable that we think back to the Discovery of the Americas on the part of Christopher Columbus.

It was about this time when various instruments present in cumbia and salsa started to be used. No wonder we attach so much importance to this event, as this is how Spanish and the Portuguese arrived in the so-called New World. It is no coincidence that these languages are the protagonists of these rhythms at this time.

While it is true that Europe gave its languages to Latin music, we cannot fail to mention that the African slave trade played a major role in this context. Its beats and drums closely tied to religious ceremonies were inspirational for salsa, bachata and samba and African-American music, in which the famous Jazz may be included.

Neither can we leave out the fact that many pre-Colombian civilizations created many types of percussion music instruments, which are very present in Andean music and its very traditional flute-like sounds.

What has led Latin American music to become so popular in recent times?

There is no denying that Latin music has achieved a tremendous global reach in recent years, but things were not always like this. In the past, it was ballads of love with heartbreaking lyrics that dominated this market and its primary target audience was female.

With the passing of years, this reality radically changed. We can see it in the emergence of an encouraging number of commercial songs and very simple to dance like La Macarena by Los Del Rio, Livin La Vida Loca by Ricky Martin, A Dios Le Pido by Juanes, among others. These pieces of theme music were the ones that broke the barrier of traditional radio in due course.

Later, hip hop and R&B gave origin to other urban rhythms that took hold of everyone’s attention

Latin music for some time now

That mode of nightclubs of Latin origin that have been inaugurated the length and breadth of the old continent is nothing new. What is new though is the type of attendees received in these places in recent years. There’s a very large audience of all ages who show real interest in rhythms whose language they don’t even know, but they do not seem to care at all. In fact, this peculiarity seems to give an extra touch of excitement to the point. They see Latin music as an array of sounds and rhythms that may not understand, but that simply cannot stop dancing them.

When making a comparison of the monotonous pop style with this recent wave of Latino artists that have been conquering hearts throughout the world, it is evident that things are different now and did not seem to go back to the way they were. What is true is that traditional styles have been overthrown surprisingly.

It is not a secret that singers such as Shakira or Ricky Martin became immensely popular in the late nineties and the early 200All Posts0s, but now things go much further. We are saying that there is a very important number of musicians in these genres that have drawn the attention of all audiences of all ages and countries.

Further, there is a lot of Americans who have appropriated these styles and the Spanish language to give a lot of freshness to their musical projects. A telling example is the Canadian Justin Bieber who has worked with Luis Fonsi and other artists from Latin America, giving as a result a fan base that became interested in these genres and the Spanish language.

It looks like musical lyrics no longer need to be in English to reach all corners of the globe and make everyone dance. In fact, many people look for this type of music to enjoy it, even if they understand little to nothing about it.

Orchestra Latin music playing in the roads

What can we deduce from all this?

After having analysed all these data, we can say that Latin music is a very rich and intense mix of a cluster of cultures that were linked up between them until we find the heterogeneity that we see today. Undeniably, this whole process of miscegenation between so many rhythms would not have been possible under the influence of pre-Columbian, African and European culture. However, the same can be said in the opposite case.

Yes, this also occurs in the contrary case. Europeans’s musical tastes are no longer those of a few decades ago. Nowadays, there are many adults and young people who cannot stop dancing when they listen to certain salsa or merengue songs that have gone across all possible borders.

In short, we are talking about a continuous feedback loop between both cultures that keeps going until now. No musical rhythm is completely pure and Latin rhythms are the perfect example.

Image source 1: http://nuevacaravana.blogspot.com/2010/08/bongo.html

Image source 2: https://presencia.unah.edu.hn/noticias/los-origenes-de-la-musica-y-la-identidad-en-america-latina-4-de-4/

Image source 3: https://www.correo.ca/2015/07/willie-colon-la-clave-es-la-experimentacion/

Image source 4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QH_3h43nGf4

The beautiful story of dancer, actor and singer Pancho Martinez Pey

Dance has been always important for Pancho

Pancho Martinez Pey is an Argentine dance teacher, choreographer, actor, singer and dancer who has had a large participation in various shows and theatre plays in which he has demonstrated his skills in those disciplines where he has become an expert in recent years, among which we can mention ”Casa Blanca”, ”Café Tortoni”, ”Michelangelo”, ”Esquina Carlos Gardel”, ”Sabor a Tango” and many more.

His father was a musician and second guitar player for Oscar Alemán in the 1970s, so he was always involved in the world of dance since he was eight years old and started learning to dance in a more professional way at the age of 12. However, the first time he had contact with tango was at 16, when he began to take his first steps in this particular genre. Three years later, he moved to Spain for a while to work as a drummer and singer in a musical group, with which he would tour the entire European country to offer his talent to the local public.

When they were not playing, they danced tango and Argentine folklore, which inspired him enough to devote himself entirely to tango in his country of origin, something that happened when a very young Pancho was just 22 years old. Once he was in his homeland, he worked as a ticket-taker at a train station for a few years while taking dancing lessons in the evenings, which trained and prepared him for his big break.

His big moment came when he was offered to participate in the piece ”Miguelangelo” together with Gloria and Eduardo Arquimbau, who formed one of the most emblematic couples of Argentine tango. He did not think twice about it and quit his job at the train station to go to dance professionally just as he does to the date.

In view of the fact that he was always used to listening to all kinds of music from a very young age, he had no trouble adapting to all the rhythms that he found in the way, such as folklore, tango, forró, swing, Argentine rock, among others.

He also enjoys singing very much and ensures he can sing all kinds of genres ”from K-Pop to tango”.

Pancho Martínez Pey dancing tango with María Nieves. Photo courtesy of Yumba Rojas

Combining dancing and singing with acting

When asked how he mixes dancing and singing with acting and all that histrionic part that makes his performances so particular, he says that his taste for this branch of the arts was also born in his childhood, since he always watched Argentine films in which dancing was very present and it goes without saying that they were always his favorites. Then, little by little, destiny led him to combine all these elements until he starred in his first important musical called ”Tanguera”. In this piece, participants did not talk or act too much, but they had to focus on putting on a good show at the level of dancing.

Another important musical in his career was ”Tita: Una Vida en Tiempo de Tango” with Nacha Guevara, which focused on the life and career of tango dancer and actress Tita Merello. This piece did require vocal talents between dialogues, so Pancho was finally able to show what he was made of as a singer.

All these facets have their degree of complexity, but the Argentinean performer thinks that the hardest part of his work is trying to combine all these areas, something a friend and colleague of his acted as a coach and helped him to train in the linking between singing, dancing and acting. He pointed out that this is a very strong training in which you have to control certain elements such as breathing, the air when dancing, concentration, among other details.

Role of man and woman in tango

According to Pancho, given that it is a dance of two, it is very important that both understand each other’s role in the dance. ”The leader leads and the other follows. In most cases, the leader is the man of the couple, who at the same time is the one who provides support and leads at the same time, while the follower has to follow the leader, but must also be an active member of the situation. Let’s remember that we are two people dancing and not one, so we are both active subjects in the dance. The woman expresses all her own beauty and sensuality, while the gentleman has that strength and guidance that, at the same time, seduces and makes his partner feel safe” said the artist.

Pancho with his father Oscar Cacho Martinez, and his uncle Raúl Martinez

How history and social changes have affected tango

Martínez explains that the World Tango championship gave a huge boost to this musical genre. It was always very popular in Argentina, but it did not have the importance it now has in most of the world. Tango came from a mixture of cultures in Buenos Aires, where the first lyrics of its social protest songs began to emerge. Tango has that popular and rebellious element coming from the people” explains the performer.

The golden age of tango was in the 1940s, when musicians and poets at the highest level began to emerge until foreign musical groups such as The Beatles or Elvis Presley appeared, who won over audiences of the time, which caused a temporary decline of tango. That is how matters stood until the early 1990s when the film Tango Argentino was released, which contributed significantly to the worldwide explosion of tango in those years and to improvement of techniques used for that dance”, he continued.

Finally, the dancer expressed his joy for the moment that tango is living nowadays, since he had never seen so many people interested in learning to dance it, both as entertainment and profession. He thinks that this current popularity is due to the need of people to connect with others after the pandemic and the multiple benefits that it brings at a mental level.

A walk through the history of Latin music in the United States

Latin music has been of great influence for singers in training and, without a doubt, marked the lives of its pioneers. Some born in Spanish-speaking countries and others with descent from these lands have not been able to put aside the flavor that has been inherited to them. There are those who affirm that these tropical and Caribbean rhythms are carried in the veins and it is very difficult to get rid of these roots.

The arrival of Latinos in the United States also implied the arrival of their customs and culture. Latin music is considered to be a large number of genres, including: salsa, merengue, bachata, bolero, bossa nova, reggaeton, rumba, ranchera, cumbia, tango, among others.

Photo of Latinamerican Festival at Nagoya in Golden Week

Latinamerican Festival at Nagoya in Golden Week

How did Latin music begin to enter the United States?

Latin American music has influenced American music, starting from jazz to country music. Many bands added congas, percussion, or maracas to their instruments as they were drawn to the result these elements brought.

Starting in 1940, the music of Latin America, which still did not have a specific term, covered a greater number of audiences in the United States; international radio networks broadcast different themes of the time. In addition, they featured different Mexican bolero musicians such as Alfredo Antonini, Néstor Mesta Chayres, Eva Garza and Juan Arvizu. In the 1940s the US also heard the “Calypso” with great acceptance.

It was not until the 1950s that the term “Latin music” became popular, seeking to establish a difference between Afro-American and Afro-Latin American rhythms. Some artists marked this musical fusion to a greater extent, making the best of Latin music known on American soil. During the 1950s, music brought to the north from the island of Cuba, such as mambo, cha-cha, and rumba, was very popular. As well as the famous Mexican songs: rancheras and mariachis.

Some Latino artists who marked the history of Latin music in the United States Tito Puente was an American percussionist with Dominican origins remembered for his participation in worldwide jazz, Cuban music and salsa. In 1950 he helped promote the genre of mambo and cha-cha. His album “Dance Manía” was considered the most famous by the artist, it was one of the most heard among the Latino community in the US The album also set a precedent by being recorded in Spanish, generally, Latin albums were in English or with instrumental songs. It was Tito Puente who broke with this tradition.

At the beginning of the 20th century, tango touched American soil. Then, in the 70s, the Argentine Astor Piazzolla gave something to talk about by demonstrating his passion for the genre and revolutionizing what was known until that moment. Piazzolla was born in Mar de Plata but lived in New York from a very young age. It definitely changed the way of looking at music that was long marginalized, it was considered the music of the working class. The singer made mixtures between tango, jazz and contemporary classical music. His songs were a great success and were famous in bars of the time.

It was not until the late 1960s and early 1970s that the term “salsa” began to become known. Afro-Caribbean musicians mixed Cuban dance with influences from jazz, Caribbean music, and American rhythms. Although in previous decades it had already had its beginnings, it was in the streets of New York where it was consolidated as a commercial success.

Photo by Celia Cruz and Tito Puente

Celia Cruz and Tito Puente – Latin music

Salsa launched artists who are now legends to stardom, such as: Celia Cruz, Willie Colón, Héctor Lavoe, Rubén Blades, Johnny Pacheco, among others.

Between the 1970s and 1990s, Dominican immigrants to the United States continued, especially to New York City, and promoted genres such as merengue and bachata. Juan Luis Guerra was one of the great exponents of both styles.

In the 90s, Selena mixed the Texan aesthetic with pop, giving her the title of the highest representative of the genre.

Entering the 2000s

In this decade, Latin rhythms continued to set the trend. Singers like Rubén Blades returned with songs that promised to be hits in the country.

At the end of 1999 Marc Anthony surprised his followers with an album of the same name. Although he was already known in the salsa genre, he decided to try other styles. With the intention of reaching the Anglo market, he is encouraged to sing in English. “I Need To Know” is a cha-cha song that quickly became popular in the United States. For eleven weeks it remained in the top North American positions, ranking in the Top 10 on the Billboard. The Spanish version won the Grammy for the best Latin song of the year 2000.

Marc Anthony was one of the artists who marked this decade in the US That same year a compilation of his best salsa songs went on sale, which he called: “Desde el principio”. With these successes to his credit within this country, he set out to make an important tour of the United States. Canada and Central America. Madison Square Garden in New York was overflowing with fans who wanted to hear this American singer but who positioned himself as the leader of a Latin genre.

Photo by Marc Anthony

Marc Anthony

The opening of “I Need To Know” appeared in the Nissan Versa commercial in the United States and in 2009 it also featured in an American Dad chapter, an American television series; thus giving greater projection to this genre throughout the North American territory.

During this decade, salsa and Latin music in general ended up positioning themselves in the United States.

In 2002 Blades launched his album “Mundo”, becoming one of the most popular in the United States. In fact, it won a Grammy. The album contained a mix of various rhythms and instruments. The artist wanted to create a fusion of cultures and musicians from different countries. “Estampa” was a subject with great acceptance as it evoked the Afro-Cuban influence in New York music.

By the year 2000, there were already music channels and with them the projection of emerging talents who in many cases did not speak the English language. The dynamics of these channels focused on the public, who chose which songs and videos were to be played, giving the opportunity to many young, little-known artists. They were also considered a springboard for the singers of the season and the Latin movement in general.

A movement that is here to stay

Latin music had come to continue making history and it was time to give it greater merit within the American spectacle.

Today, Latin singers, songwriters, and bands are innumerable. Latin music continues to gain space in the United States and more and more artists are achieving success within its borders. In addition, the endless awards that enhance their work in the industry.

Ruben Blades - Mundo

Ruben Blades – Mundo

The consumption of these musical rhythms has increased throughout the American territory. Latinos and followers of this genre have gained space over the years; they can enjoy nightspots, live music, festivals, concerts and much more. Long live Latin America and its people! Long live the United States and the countries that have opened their doors to Latin music